Hello everyone. I've enjoyed listening to all of you show off your mad skillz. Today I had a rare moment to myself and got one piece in my first take. I'm sure you can guess which one it was.

Some brief comments -

Bea, I feel that once you get going on a piece, or a major section of the piece, your timing is getting much better, more consistent. In particular I liked that second part of Meissonier where you alternated the D# and E. Sure, it was a little staccato, but it sounded steady and consistent. I think your next challenge is to incorporate that steadiness into the start of each section, such as the E-D-C-and B of measure 1. Also, while even in the absence of written rests a minor pause between repeated sections can be musical, it should only be minor, so I'd keep it to a very brief pause. Finally, you may already know this, but I think you may have hit a wrong note at 0:43 as well as the slip at 1:05. Still, it's a long piece and you did very well.

William, you played very skillfully - I rarely saw you look at your left hand. Well done. I found your tempo to be on the fast side, esp. for the Sor piece, which to my ear doesn't lend itself to a faster pace as well as the other one. You already noted the missed repeat on Meissonier, but you also had a really good D#/E thing going on that one. I think I need to lift up to kill the D# note value, I'm not sure I've been doing that in practice. Also, you might want to avoid the unnecessary string noise after you completed the Sor piece. I don't have much else to say, other than, perhaps, if you're going to show your face, perhaps put some emotion into it. [of course, this comes from the guy that Stefan noted looked quite robotic - while laser-like focused on my left hand]

Stefan, once again my comments are akin to the designer of the Yugo (sorry) critiquing the designer of the Porsche 911. That said, you play with a fluidity and passion that I think we all envy. Heck, you probably practice with a passion we should all emulate. I agree with the comments about string noise - maybe you were just getting carried away. With respect to the creative license you took with Meissonier, well, it was executed very well (not entirely consistently (the last repeat sounded more "play it straight"), but you may have meant that) - however, to my ear, there comes a point when rubato is no longer a slight variation in tempo that enhances the musicality of a piece, but a significant one which detracts. And sad to say I was not thrilled about how far outside the lines you colored. However, it may yet grow on me. I can see how getting bored with playing these would almost drive one to do something different with the piece just to keep from going crazy. Perhaps I will get there myself before long.

There's a decent chance I won't post until Monday; I am going out of town again soon, and finding peace and quiet isn't easy while the kids are off from school. I know a 3rd grade teacher here who would understand this quite well.

Carl, I really appreciate how detailed is your feedback. I want to say thank you on behalf of everyone for taking the time to comment and in my case reminding me of my errors and how I could do better.

CarlWestman wrote: finding peace and quiet isn't easy while the kids are off from school. I know a 3rd grade teacher here who would understand this quite well.

Yes, I agree with this. But also i do like when my students are off from school because that means I don't have to go to work

Stefan Srećković wrote:Dankeschön! I'll minimize the RH noise, I got carried away and wasn't even aware of this scratching sound.

Here's the scale.
...

Dear Stefan,
I have the impression that there is too much unnecessary movement with the left hand. Needless to bother her.
See for example the start - in the first position, how much movement makes your hand (or at least the wrist joint) and all this could be done only by gently lifting your fingers.
Pay attention to the "energy saving".
P.S. Nice guitar and sound.

Halil!! It sounded with good tempo and musicality.
The only thing I notice was that these notes didn't sound completely clear, maybe you play them too fast or didn't pressed them well: in Allegretto bar 6 the C; In Andante second part bar 6 the D#, repeat of second part bar 2 second open E 1st string, and last repeat of first part bar 3 last A.

Hi everyone. I recently joined the level two lessons and am trying to get caught up. I thought I would jump ahead to the current lesson.

Beatriz: I thought you did a particularly nice job on the Allegretto. If I was going to suggest something to work on to improve it, it would be to add more dynamics. Parts of the Andante Affettuoso were sounding very staccato. I know others have already mentioned it, but I would continue to work on a more legato sound.
William: Overall, those were very clean performances. Like you, I think I attempted to get close to the tempo indicated on the sheet music for the Andante piece. After recording, I noticed that Mr. Delcamp does play this one much slower than the music indicates, and also with a lot of rubato. I think it sounds more musical as a result. I'm not going to re-record my version, but I think I will play it a bit slower from now on.
Stefan: Excellent job, and a very lovely sounding guitar as well. What kind is it? Your performances, and Mr.Delcamp's examples, had me very curious about the use of rubato. How do we know when and how much of it to use? Is it more acceptable with certain pieces and composers?
Halil:Nice job incorporating dynamics and rubato on the Sor piece. I notice as I am trying to record these lessons, that my recordings don't always reflect as notable a difference in dynamics as I think I put in during performance. I am trying to work on that. I also want to try playing around with more rubato in the future. So far I have only used it minimally. I think your performance of the Andante would benefit from more dynamics and rubato to add more feeling. I feel the same way about my version.
[media]https://youtu.be/watch?v=UA_S0MY_4QQ[/media]

I've got a Paco Castillo model 205, liking it very much indeed. As for the rubato and its usage, it's just an ornament of some sorts that adds to the feel of a piece. There is no concrete advice as to when to use it and how much of it is needed. Try feeling every single piece, play with tempo, articulation and dynamics as you wish. To my knowledge, some eras of CG don't encourage rubato, whereas other do. Personally (because I don't perform, and I need not to be afraid of being pointed at) I like to touch up every piece, add and take away as I see fit.
Having gone through your lesson 05, apart from some missed notes I feel like you're unnecessarily rushing through like a speeding horse! Take a step back, feel the music that you're creating

You're certainly getting there, but much like everyone starting up, you need to relax and feel your notes. Don't just go through them for the sake of getting to the end of a piece. I suggest closing your eyes and feeling the flow of both pieces. Try it, just try it!

Let me, please, step into this thread as I have been honored by @Stefan by numerous contacts when he was in a process of acquiring his present guitar. It is Paco Castillo model 205 with cedar top. These guitars are highly prized also on our forum. Their description at Kent guitars is IMO accurate.

Sorry for the video quality; we had noisy rain today so the sunroom was not a good place to record, as it is causes a lot of interference. Where I recorded turned out to be somewhat dimly lit (and not much natural light, as the clouds darkened the skies). As a result, the image, though technically HD, is noisy. The audio should be the same quality, however.

I really hoped to get through the Meissonnier piece with fewer hesitations and slip ups. As it is a longer piece, it's a bit harder to avoid completely. One thing I learned, and need to correct in my practice for next time, is that I have a tendency to re-start a piece when I make a mistake practicing. This of course leads to getting to know the first half of a piece much better than the second half! If I had realized this in time, I'd have dedicated more time to the 2nd part of that piece. Obviously one re-starts when recording, though maybe we should not. I think one reason I do is that my camera tends to balk at long takes, so I tend to only record 5-6 minutes at a time. One consequence of that is that there's then an incentive to start over when you make a mistake, in the hopes of getting in one more complete take before the camera decides to rest.

I did find the G to F (vertical) stretch on that one a little challenging, mostly because of the high g that comes afterwards.

Next up, a string and saddle change. I also may experiment with shortening the scale via capo at 1st fret, but keeping it in standard tuning. My hands are relatively inflexible and have little reach horizontally. I am starting to get knuckle pain just trying to expand that reach, so I will try to see if a shorter scale will help.